Watching from afar through headlines and Instagram posts, I was unsure how to feel about COP30 last month. As a former youth climate striker, my teenage sense of optimism has been somewhat dampened. The more I learn about politics, negotiation, and multilateral cooperation, the more exasperated I become. It’s easy to be cynical towards COP as a tool for actual global change.
A month on, is it worth talking about an international event for climate littered with fossil fuel lobbyists? Will our national leaders ever advocate for bold action? Haven’t we passed the point of applauding these events?
Despite some progress, this COP was deeply inadequate, but I think it mattered less in what it achieved than in what it symbolized. Ten years from the Paris Agreement, many are disillusioned and seeking other courses of action. I pray that the shortcomings of this COP will fuel imaginative alternatives to still work towards a planet where our environment is renewed. Christians are clearly called into this fight for climate justice, within and beyond formal policymaking structures.
There were plenty of articles published covering the positive outcomes, such as the Just Transition Action Mechanism, Global Implementation Accelerator, and funds for tropical forests and adaptation finance. But there was an overall sense of disappointment.1 For a conference held within the Amazon rainforest – an emblem of the destruction we are wreaking on nature, and of the beautiful creation we are called to steward – many believe the language was not strong enough.
Taking stock of COP now, as we look to a new year in climate campaigning, can both inspire Christian activists and challenge churches to pursue bolder action, when global summits fall short.
Fossil Fuels
One of the most lamentable realities of this COP was the record number of fossil fuel lobbyists in attendance. Ambitious goals are much harder to achieve with the pressures of these representatives.
Out of 194 representatives, ‘roughly 80 didn’t submit new commitments for 2035…and the rest submitted weak pledges’, leading scientists to project that we are still ‘on track for upwards of 2.6 ° C of warming by 2100’. As a young adult activist, this fills me with grief and urgency. The future I fear is already the present for millions of young adults in the Global South, where climate disaster is not a distant threat but a daily reality. The recent floods in Indonesia are just one heartbreaking example among many.
This year, JPIT church leaders have campaigned against the fossil fuel industry through the Climate Coalition mass lobby in July and the #StopRosebank campaign. Moments like COP should empower us further as Christians to reiterate concerns to our MPs and to push the limits of our local and national strategies.
Global South Representation
Tensions were high between those in the room and those excluded. On the second day, my social media was dominated by clips of some Munduruku indigenous people storming the conference to break into the decision-making spaces. Despite the record turnout, the barriers to genuine participation for indigenous peoples became painfully clear. Seeing this protest immediately made me lose hope in the event, unable to take it seriously if it wasn’t going to take those with lived experience seriously.
This racial dimension of the environmental crisis is undeniable, and the disparity in Global North–South representation at COP30 makes this clear. Last week, I was privileged to join Methodist representatives at a UK church leaders and agencies event on Palestine at Lambeth Palace with the Archbishop of York, where one speaker argued for the interconnection between genocide and ecocide happening in Palestine and the West Bank. It highlighted how the church’s response to worldwide violence, colonialism, and climate crisis are interconnected.
In the closing plenary, Colombia spoke powerfully against procedural issues including the mitigation work programme and announced an independent roadmap with the Netherlands. Genevieve Guenther argues that this action ‘outside the COP process may establish a trading bloc that could begin to sanction nations – and banks – that refuse to wind down fossil fuels’ but requires us to ‘do our part and subject world leaders to extreme and relentless public pressure’.
Patricia Mungcal (National Council of Churches, Philippines) described how,
“I find hope outside the negotiation halls, in the courage and bravery of Indigenous peoples to defend their land and care for the creation; in the international solidarity…even outside the official texts.”
We must continue the fight for intersectional justice and listen to those with lived experience. It is crucial that the Church pays attention to alternative leaders like Colombia for inspiration and guidance on climate policy, rather than rich countries.
…so what now?
COP30 was alleged to be the “implementation COP”. The name of the final text (mutirão) means “collective efforts”, underscoring the need for mobilisation not only from our politicians and diplomats, but also our wider communities and churches. Regardless of how impressed you are with the outcomes, we as churches and Christians must put our money where our mouth is and boldly campaign for climate action. We must fulfil our Christian call to work for justice for the marginalised, and to care for our God-given creation, by continuing to speak out beyond COP. Proverbs 31: 8-9 encourages the church to be bold and courageous:
Speak out for those who cannot speak,
for the rights of all the destitute.
Speak out, judge righteously,
defend the rights of the poor and needy.
By reflecting on COP from a Christian perspective, we must recognise the need to:
- Use bolder language
- Listen to our partners in the Global South
- Embody one of the alternative pathways to climate justice
The UK is making wins thanks to campaigners, having recently announced an end to new oil and gas exploration. This should be celebrated as we approach the end of 2025, but ambitious New Year’s Resolutions for 2026 are necessary. Churches offer a unique platform to engage with climate politics away from formal international diplomacy in local and national communities, where we can lament the destruction that is occurring whilst finding hope in the kingdom of heaven.
Continue to support the Stop Rosebank campaign.
Interested in growing a relationship with your MP as part of your church’s work for climate justice? Find out about our Constituency Action Network.